Superstar Rosberg
Please tell me everyone saw superstar rookie Rosberg’s debut race in Formula 1? No. Well allow me to give you the cliffnotes, but please come more prepared the next time :).
Nico Rosberg is the son of Keke Rosberg, the 1982 Formula 1 world champion. He’s driving a Williams, powered by a Cosworth engine (much in the same way his daddy drove all those moons ago). He qualifies 10th on the grid which isn’t the greatest start, but much more experienced Webber (whom I rate a lot) came in 7th, and Mark Webber is meant to be a qualifying expert. So our rookie isn’t shining, he’s doing an amicable job, but nothing spectacular.
The race begins and our rookie fucks up on the first corner. He crashes into the back of the man he’s effectively replaced (my boy Ickle Nick Heidfeld, another fellow german). Ok seems like Nico is having a babtism of fire here on his debut in Formula 1. I was thinking, well it’s to be expected not everyone can have a huge start in F1. Some have to chill out and learn. It’s a gamble, he’s only 20 years old, give him some time, hopefully he’ll grow.
I really shouldn’t have discarded him so quickly in my mind. I should have waited for the end of the race before I made any decisions about the rookie. You see after his mini-crash he went and got his nose cone changed, went back out and was the only one (along with Kimi to be fair, who came from 22nd on the grid to get 3rd place) that was actually RACING!
Nico literally clawed his way from last spot on the grid all the way to 7th, which is an amazing feat, considering most drivers don’t overtake that many cars in an entire season. Is it the most amazing start to the season for the Williams team? In many respects it is, because it bodes incredibly well for the future. They’ve got a pretty solid package under them, one experienced driver and another driver that is calm and explosive.
This was one of the greatest season starts I’ve come to witness in the last couple of years. The fact that a lot of things have/were changed (for the better, I think) during the winter (there are not only new cars, but also new drivers (as the aforementioned Nico Rosberg), new teams (e.g. think of Torro Rosso), new engines (V8) etc.) really helped making the race exciting up to the last lap. And although I don’t like the Manama International Circuit, I really enjoyed it alot. Hopefully BMW will come up.
↓ Quote | 12/3/2006
It was a great drive!! As well as a great race!! I really enjoyed it, I reckon that this season is going to be very competative. If Jenson had fudged his start up he would’ve been right in the mix of things with Fernando and Scumacher, along with Raikkonens drive it could be a 4 horse race this season!! Always good!!
↓ Quote | 12/3/2006
you are a clown gimp boy
↓ Quote | 12/3/2006
Agreed, great drive by Rosberg (although no-one would be able to touch Raikonnen if he wasn’t saddled with worse luck than Rincewind). Hopefully Schumacher’s 2nd place was an aberration and he’ll go back to being as crap as he was last season, and Button will finally win a race.
↓ Quote | 12/3/2006
Made in Germany, that’s quality ;-)
He made a good race and was fighting til the last round. I think with some routine he has the chance to become one of the top-driver.
↓ Quote | 12/3/2006
Yeah, I was quite impressed too! He did hell of a job to claw back in points.
↓ Quote | 12/3/2006
I’ve got to say Matthew, I REALLY don’t rate Button at all. I think he’s a decent enough driver, but he doesn’t have that class that Nico showed. It’s like watching a Kimi in the making. Juan Pablo is not as solid as Kimi and they’re both in the same car, Fisi not as strong as Alonso, same car, and the list goes on.
I’m not saying Nico is the second coming, but he’s a fighter and that means a lot. It makes you respect him more I think, at least it does in my eyes. Button doesn’t strike me as a real fighter. The British media love to pump him up because he’s the only brit that has a chance of winning a race, but to be fair there are only 2 brits on the grid in total.
The race was so much fun to watch though. It had loads of action and loads of overtaking, no real crashes, I would have liked a few more crashes, makes it more fun, maybe the safety car out there as well, some rain? Always throws things into a bit of an unheaval :)…I guess we’ve got the rest of the season to wait for these things. Damn good start to the season though.
↓ Quote | 13/3/2006
Well said indeed. I’m no Button fan either, he had a couple of nice moves but kept falling back.
Best bit remains Alonso pulling out of the pitlane, pushing Michael wide like he’s done to so many others over the years. Looks like it could be a VERY interesting year and hopefully a pretty open championship.
Of course, as usual, the driver of the day got little coverage, ain’t it always the way…
↓ Quote | 13/3/2006
I too am not a Button fan. Being a Canadian I’m really interested in watching Jaques this season, too bad his engine blew up. The last couple of laps was damn exciting.
But how about the new qualifying system with the shootout. I think the highlight for me was with four minutes remaining in the first qualifying session all the cars filed out of the pits. Damn exciting. Bring on Malaysia!
↓ Quote | 14/3/2006
It was quite a start wasnt it. I hope he can keep it up though
↓ Quote | 14/3/2006
All I can say is it was nice to see Formula One on fire again. ;)
As for Button, he has never done anything remotely interesting for me, bring on Nico! What about those shiny new McLarens? Flashy or what!
↓ Quote | 17/3/2006
I have to say I think Button performed well at Bahrain - not sure on the stats, but he must have passed close to the same number of people on the track as Rosberg - if not more in fact. But…. enough of Button - you already know my thoughts on him (i.e. he is awesome! just compare him to Rubens so far!)
Rosberg is indeed impressive - shown by his qualifying in Malaysia - shame about the reliablility. One to watch, but not quite there yet - and it really is great to see the Williams team up there again, especially since they no longer have manufacturer support!
↓ Quote | 20/3/2006
Bushy, Jenson passed everyone IN THE PITS. He only overtook Montoya twice (but Montoya had a problem), so it’s interesting how he lost position to him twice :).
↓ Quote | 20/3/2006
Hmmm…. if you go over to www.formula1.com you can see a lap chart for Bahrain - it shows each driver and how their positions changed during the race.
From a quick look at that (it does get a bit messy, so I may have missed something) it seems that Jenson passed 3 time on the track (Rubens, the JPM twice) and Rosberg only actually passed TWICE on the track - Sato and Coulthard.
Take a look and see what you think.
↓ Quote | 20/3/2006
Well then we know that information is pretty bollocks as he passed Klien in the final lap as well. Sadly I didn’t see the rest of his charge as the channel was concentrating on other rubbish :). But I’ll definitely give it a look.
↓ Quote | 20/3/2006
Yep, you’re right - I missed Klien. But personally I would regard taking Barrichello and Montoya (twice) as more challenging than taking Sato(!), Coulthard and Klien.
But don’t forget that I do rate Rosberg highly and was massively impressed - I just think you’re wrong in thinking Button isn’t up there too.
↓ Quote | 20/3/2006